News Briefs – Voice of OChttps://voiceofoc.org
Orange County's nonprofit newsroomWed, 21 Feb 2018 23:27:43 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Santa Ana, County Sued For Violating Civil Rights of Civic Center Homeless Populationhttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/08/santa-ana-county-sued-for-violating-civil-rights-of-civic-center-homeless-population/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/08/santa-ana-county-sued-for-violating-civil-rights-of-civic-center-homeless-population/#commentsThu, 03 Aug 2017 12:43:39 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=385323A nonprofit organization known as the Elder Law and Disability Center is suing the city of Santa Ana and County of Orange over the treatment of homeless people inhabiting the Civic Center, public property in downtown Santa Ana where hundreds of homeless people camp between government buildings.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of OC Catholic Worker and seven homeless plaintiffs, who allege law enforcement has created additional hardships for homeless people by seizing property and issuing citations while people are away from their belongings, going to the bathroom, attending doctor’s appointments and performing other essential tasks.

“Because this not only violates the Constitution and creates a public health crisis, endangering our most vulnerable community members, we had no choice to file a lawsuit,” said Brooke Weitzman, an attorney for the Elder Law and Disability Center, at a Santa Ana City Council meeting Tuesday.

The homeless people represented in the lawsuit include veterans and people with disabilities.

Taylor Andrew Kent, an Air Force veteran with a disability related to his service, who also has a terminal cancer diagnosis, had his belongings seized and was unable to recover his medications when he picked them up, according to the complaint. The lawsuit claims that, without his medications, Kent’s health deteriorated and he was subsequently hospitalized for seizures and an infection. While hospitalized, Kent’s belongings were seized again.

The lawsuit also argues that the options provided for the homeless are inadequate.

When people’s belongings are seized, they are stored at a facility over two miles away and there is no process for labeling people’s belongings for retrieval, according to the lawsuit.

The Courtyard Center, a partially outdoor emergency shelter at an abandoned bus terminal next to the Civic Center, houses over 400 people.

“More threats of citation and arrest have pushed people into the courtyard terminal, regardless of whether the terminal was over capacity or affected the mental health of those people,” said Brooke Weitzman, “The people who were not moved into the courtyard were forced into the Plaza of Flags, an area that is only cement and outside of any grass and shade that could protect them from the elements.”

Charles Dorsey, another plaintiff in the case, is described in the lawsuit as having mobility limitations after he was struck by a drunk driver and needed surgery. The lawsuit says Dorsey was asked to move his tent out of the shade by a police officer, despite explaining that he needed to be in the shade to recuperate from his surgery.

The lawsuit argues that the city and county have violated Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional protections to due process and against unreasonable search and seizure, by seizing and destroying homeless people’s belongings without adequate notice and reasonable options to retrieve personal property.

It also alleges the county and city are violating the civil rights of the homeless by destroying tents and tarps and exposing people to harsh weather.

The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the enforcement of Santa Ana’s anti-camping ordinance and the seizure of property; require the city and county to replace blankets, tents and tarps that are seized; and to require seized property be stored at a more accessible location.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/08/santa-ana-county-sued-for-violating-civil-rights-of-civic-center-homeless-population/feed/8League of Women Voters Urges Supervisors to Drop Plan to Change Ethics Commissionhttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/league-of-women-voters-urges-supervisors-to-drop-plan-to-change-ethics-commission/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/league-of-women-voters-urges-supervisors-to-drop-plan-to-change-ethics-commission/#commentsMon, 31 Jul 2017 13:15:20 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=383414The League of Women Voters is “disappointed and dismayed” by the Board of Supervisors’ plan to give supervisors more power over the ethics commission that was approved last year by county voters and called for supervisors to back off.

The supervisors’ plan “jeopardizes the independence of the commissioners,” Michelle Musacchio, member of an Orange County chapter of the League of Women Voters, told the Supervisors Tuesday, reading from a letter on behalf of Susan Guilford, president of both the Orange County-wide and Central Orange County chapters of the League of Women Voters.

At their July 10 meeting, three of the five supervisors expressed support for changing the terms of the ethics commissioners, aligning them with the term of the supervisor who appointed them and allowing the supervisors to choose how long the appointee would serve on the commission. Four supervisors would have to support the plan for it to go into effect.

The ethics commission was approved last June by over 400,000 Orange County voters with approximately 70 percent of the vote. The commission’s bylaws state the members shall serve staggered three-year terms. The term lengths for the first set of five commissioners will be randomly selected and commissioners may not serve more than two full terms.

Supervisor Andrew Do, who favors the term changes, suggested during the July 10 meeting commissioners should “serve at the pleasure of the supervisor” who appoints them.

Musacchio, an Irvine resident, read the chapter president’s letter opposing the proposed changes during public comments.

“We believe this jeopardizes the independence of the commissioners,” the letter said. “Specifically, we reject the proposal that commission appointees have terms concurrent with the appointing supervisor.”

She said while the ethics commission’s bylaws allow for technical, non-substantive changes to “further the purposes of the ethics commission,” the supervisors’ proposal is “anything but non-substantive.”

Musacchio also read a statement on behalf of all the League of Women Voters’ Orange County membership calling for supervisors to reconsider the proposal and take steps to assure that ethics commissioners can work independently and “free of political influence.”

In an interview with Voice of OC on Friday, Guilford said the League of Women Voters studied the issue of ethics in Orange County government for years before voting and adopting the statement in 2015, which Musacchio read on behalf of the organization’s local membership at the Tuesday, July 25 meeting.

“Staggered terms for commissioners that do not match the term of their appointed supervisor will clear away any suggestion of undue influence upon the supervisors and thereby safeguard the original purpose of the measure,” Musacchio said.

The supervisors have the power to appoint all five of the ethics commissioners and can remove any with four votes from the board. At their July 10 meeting they unanimously appointed Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s nominee, Peter Agarwal, a Fullerton bank branch manager, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce board member and previous Nelson appointee to other county boards and commissions.

At their July 10 meeting, the supervisors also directed County Counsel Leon Page to look into action they can take to change the rules for commissioner’s terms, but did not discuss the topic at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Jose Ochoa is a Voice of OC intern. He can be reached at joseochoa.voc@gmail.com.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/league-of-women-voters-urges-supervisors-to-drop-plan-to-change-ethics-commission/feed/13Westminster Staff, Council Say Tearful Goodbye to City Clerkhttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/westminster-staff-council-say-tearful-goodbye-to-city-clerk/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/westminster-staff-council-say-tearful-goodbye-to-city-clerk/#commentsFri, 21 Jul 2017 21:32:25 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=376982The Westminster City Council gave an emotional tribute to former City Clerk Amanda Jensen, who was shot and killed July 16 by a Los Alamitos police captain.

City staff have been reeling from news of Jensen’s death, which was delivered in a meeting to staff Monday morning.

A portrait of Jensen and two vases of flowers were placed near the City Clerk’s seat in the city council chambers. During the tribute at Wednesday's city council meeting, members of the audience were in tears and council members wiped tears from their eyes.

Councilman Tyler Diep recalled joking with Jensen about being of the same generation and swapping details about their dating lives.

“She was just 37, I’m 34…we would tell each other about the date that we would go on, and she would show me pictures of her new boyfriend, and I would show her pictures of who I’m going out with,” Diep recalled.

“We normally expect people to pass on in their deathbed, at an old age, not at 37,” Diep said. “Not leaving behind three young children.”

Jensen was the mother of Dylan, Hannah and Emma.

“She was a wonderful mother. Her kids were her life,” said Councilwoman Margie Rice.

Mayor Tri Ta recalled that he, Jensen, City Manager Eddie Manfro and Assistant City Manager Chet Simmons all began working for the city around the same time.

“So tonight I really feel that we [are] missing someone,” Ta said.

City Manager Eddie Manfro, who met with Jensen’s parents Wednesday, said her parents were comforted by the outpouring of support.

“It was good for them to hear how she was loved and respected by her peers and the council,” Manfro said. “The vast majority of people that knew Amanda had tremendous respect and love for her.

With Jensen’s abrupt death, the city will be contracting with retired former city clerk Marian Contreras as an interim city clerk until a permanent replacement is found. Contreras originally hired Jensen in 2006.

The DA’s office investigated both parties for domestic violence but was unable to file in either case because “neither could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Van Der Linden said in the email.

Moore and Jensen’s bodies were found early Monday morning at a Seal Beach apartment by a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team after an hours-long blockade. Police first believed a shooter was barricaded in the apartment after witnesses reported hearing several gunshots from an apartment on the 100 block 7th street in Seal Beach.

According to Seal Beach police’s original statement, the SWAT team discovered the bodies when it entered the apartment after making “numerous” attempts to contact the occupants.

The two paragraph update Thursday said in part “preliminary results have determined that Mr. Moore fatally shot Ms. Jensen three times with his personally owned .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun. Mr. Moore died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot.”

A formal report and toxicology results from the Orange County Coroner are pending.

Jose Ochoa is a Voice of OC intern. He can be reached at joseochoa.voc@gmail.com.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/los-alamitos-police-captain-fatally-shot-westminster-city-clerk-with-his-own-weapon-coroner-reports/feed/5DA Investigated Both Los Alamitos Police Captain and Westminster City Clerk for Domestic Violencehttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigated-both-los-alamitos-police-captain-and-westminster-city-clerk-for-domestic-violence/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigated-both-los-alamitos-police-captain-and-westminster-city-clerk-for-domestic-violence/#commentsThu, 20 Jul 2017 17:25:46 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=376109The District Attorney’s office investigated possible domestic violence in the relationship between Los Alamitos Police Department Capt. Rick Moore and Westminster City Clerk Amanda Jensen, but was unable to file charges against either despite Jensen’s multiple claims of physical assault, a DA spokeswoman said in a statement.

The DA’s office is aware of “several incidents” between Jensen and Moore and investigated two of those instances, spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden wrote Wednesday in an email.

The two incidents the DA’s office looked into included claims from Jensen that Moore assaulted her, her later repudiation of those allegations and claims from Moore that Jensen screamed at him and kicked his vehicle, which he said he captured on his cell phone.

The DA’s office was unable to file charges in either case because “allegations of domestic violence against Moore could not be corroborated.”

The two incidents the DA investigated occurred on June 8, 2016 and June 3, 2017. According to Van Der Linden, the first incident was reported to the Westminster Police Department through an anonymous letter. The letter requested an investigation into “potential domestic violence by Captain Moore against Amanda Jensen.” The department contacted the DA to conduct the investigation.

When speaking to DA investigators about the June 8 incident, Jensen stated Moore “never hit her” and instead claimed she injured herself during a “verbal argument,” according to the DA’s statement. Jensen’s injuries included bruises. But in that same interview, Jensen said Moore had “physically assaulted her” before and provided a photo of a bruise as evidence. Later that day, she “recanted her allegations” and said the photo was from another incident that did not involve Moore, according to the DA spokeswoman’s statement.

The DA investigated the June 3, 2017 incident after it was reported to the Garden Grove Police Department by a neighbor. According to the DA spokeswoman, when officers arrived, “Jensen was intoxicated and stated Moore slapped her once in the face.” Officers did not see any injuries, Van Der Linden wrote in the email.

When the officers interviewed Moore, he said Jensen screamed at him and kicked his vehicle as he tried leave. Moore said he caught the incident on his cell phone and provided it to the police.

According to Van Der Linden, the second incident was submitted to the DA "with both parties as potential defendants."

But neither the first nor second case could be substantiated enough to file charges, she said.

“Therefore we could not file on either case as neither could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Van Der Linden said in an email.

Jensen and Moore’s bodies were found early Monday in an apartment in Seal Beach following reports of gunshots and an hours-long SWAT blockade. According to Seal Beach Police Department Sgt. Michael Henderson, the shooter in last Sunday’s incident has not been identified. Seal Beach police are waiting on autopsies to determine the causes of death.

Jose Ochoa is a Voice of OC intern. He can be reached at joseochoa.voc@gmail.com.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigated-both-los-alamitos-police-captain-and-westminster-city-clerk-for-domestic-violence/feed/10After a Struggle, Anaheim Finds Consultant to Sell Naming Rights to ARTIC Transportation Hubhttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/after-a-struggle-anaheim-finds-consultant-to-sell-naming-rights-to-artic-transportation-hub/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/after-a-struggle-anaheim-finds-consultant-to-sell-naming-rights-to-artic-transportation-hub/#commentsWed, 19 Jul 2017 11:36:34 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=375208The Anaheim City Council has approved a deal to allow Anaheim Arena Management, the operator of the Honda Center, negotiate and sell the naming rights to the city’s signature transportation hub, known as the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, or ARTIC.

Under the one-year agreement, the city would retain 80 percent of revenue from the corporate sponsorship in the first year and 85 percent of revenues thereafter.

The city has struggled to find a naming rights sponsor for the facility. It was relying on naming rights in part to pay for the $185 million transit hub.

They hired the Ohio-based company the Superlative Group and paid them $129,000, but the group was unsuccessful in finding a sponsor.

In July 2016, the city solicited bids again, and of the twelve companies that downloaded and reviewed the materials, none submitted an application, according to the staff report.

The city re-issued the bid in February 2017 and again the next month, before receiving proposals from Anaheim Arena Management and the Superlative Group.

Staff recommended the contract go to Anaheim Arena Management, which has sold naming rights sponsorships for the interior of the Honda Center. The Superlative Group was also asking to keep more revenue from the sponsorship.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/after-a-struggle-anaheim-finds-consultant-to-sell-naming-rights-to-artic-transportation-hub/feed/9Anaheim Approves Homeless Service Centerhttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/anaheim-approves-homeless-service-center/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/anaheim-approves-homeless-service-center/#commentsWed, 19 Jul 2017 11:35:04 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=374911The Anaheim City Council last week voted unanimously to approve a $1 a year lease for the Illumination Foundation to use a vacant historic home as a homeless service center.

The center would provide rental assistance, case management and other supportive services for the homeless.

The Illumination Foundation would be responsible for maintenance of the property, which is located at 883 South Anaheim Boulevard and is owned by the city’s Housing Authority.

Although all the invoices have yet to be counted, Community and Economic Development Director John Woodhead IV estimates the city has spent nearly $600,000 rehabilitating the home to prepare it for use.

“On July 16th, 2017 at approximately 7:20 PM the Seal Beach Police Department received a phone call from a female caller requesting police assistance,” the news release said. “The call was disconnected and witnesses told arriving Police Officers they heard several gunshots coming from an apartment in the 100 block of 7th Street in Seal Beach.”

At first police suspected a shooter was barricaded inside the apartment but after several hours a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team got in and discovered the two bodies.

It was the second time in four years Westminster lost a current or former city official.

Former Westminster City Manager James Mitchell “Mitch" Waller died in 2013 after being struck by a car while riding his bike in Laguna Canyon. Waller, 53, worked for the city for 29 years, including serving as police chief. He was named city manager in 2011 and retired in 2012.

Jose Ochoa is a Voice of OC intern. He can be reached at joseochoa.voc@gmail.com.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/westminster-city-clerk-los-alamitos-police-captain-dead-in-seal-beach-apartment-shooting/feed/14DA Investigator Who Filed Legal Claim Placed on Administrative Leavehttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigator-who-filed-legal-claim-placed-on-administrative-leave/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigator-who-filed-legal-claim-placed-on-administrative-leave/#respondMon, 17 Jul 2017 13:19:22 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=371381Tom Conklin, an investigator for the Orange County District Attorney who filed a complaint in May claiming he faced retaliation for whistleblowing, was placed on paid administrative leave July 13.

According to a statement sent to reporters by Conklin’s attorney, Joel Baruch, Conklin has been required to “turn over his County-issued badge and gun and stay at home during normal working hours for an undetermined period.”

“This job action was undertaken to punish Investigator Conklin because he had the temerity to come forward and risk everything in order to expose wrongdoing at the highest levels of the District Attorney’s office,” Baruch said in the statement.

Conklin was placed on leave the day after an Orange County Register article which cited an internal report authored by Conklin, in which he said complaints of misconduct against Supervisor Todd Spitzer, a key rival of DA Tony Rackauckas, didn’t pan out.

Baruch said neither he nor Conklin provided the report to the Register.

DA spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said that while Conklin is on paid administrative leave, it is not considered a disciplinary action.

"Obviously, police reports should not be leaked to any unauthorized persons or organizations," Van Der Linden wrote in an emailed statement.

Conklin and another investigator, Abraham Santos, filed claims in May in which they accuse high-ranking DA officials of interfering in political investigations and paint a picture of a District Attorney’s office “micromanaged” by Rackauckas, who “rewards his friends and punishes his enemies.”

The county has until July 24 to respond to Conklin’s claim before he has the right to sue the county.

The DA's full statement:

Contrary to misinformation being disseminated by a private attorney through a press release to the media, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) did not take any disciplinary action against or punish Investigator Tom Conklin. Investigator Conklin has not been placed on 'house arrest' as there is no requirement for the employee to stay home, only that he be available by phone during regular business hours.

The OCDA is reluctant to place anyone on a paid administrative leave; careful consideration was given to a full review of the facts and in consultation with County Counsel. The Special Prosecutions Unit (prosecutors) and the Special Assignments Unit (Bureau of Investigations) of the OCDA are tasked with investigating and prosecuting some of the most sensitive and confidential matters in the County.

As such, these units take care to observe the utmost confidentiality in both protocol and practice, not just due to the subject matter of the investigations, but also because the OCDA works with other state and federal agencies. Obviously, police reports should not be leaked to any unauthorized persons or organizations. Any government action should be taken based on admissible evidence and not rumors or allegations.

The OCDA will continue to work with County Counsel so the matter can be properly handled and lawfully concluded.

]]>https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/da-investigator-who-filed-legal-claim-placed-on-administrative-leave/feed/0Spitzer Says Heroin Addicts Should Get Help, Not Life-Saving Antidote Kitshttps://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/spitzer-says-heroin-addicts-should-get-help-not-life-saving-antidote-kits/
https://voiceofoc.org/2017/07/spitzer-says-heroin-addicts-should-get-help-not-life-saving-antidote-kits/#commentsMon, 17 Jul 2017 13:16:25 +0000https://voiceofoc.org/?p=369973As a growing opioid epidemic claims hundreds of lives across Orange County, Supervisor Todd Spitzer says people who are addicted to heroin should get help to stop their addiction, not antidote kits that prevent them from dying during an overdose.

“They need to get help, and they shouldn’t rely on this reversal of an opioid to save their lives. They should be figuring out how not to use heroin. Not…how to use heroin, and then have somebody come rescue them,” Spitzer said during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

His comments came as supervisors considered whether to allow the distribution of more than 6,000 naloxone kits to drug treatment centers and people at high risk of overdosing from opioids.

Accidental drug overdoses are the leading cause of death in Orange County among people under the age of 35, according to data from the county and the CDC.

Most drug overdoses in Orange County involve opioids, with 228 people dying in 2015 across all ages. Such deaths have continued to escalate since then, according to the OC Register.

Providing the antidote kits, he suggested, would create “an environment where, you know, you can continue to use heroin, you don’t need to change your behavior,” because if an addict overdoses, a friend can administer naloxone and save the addict’s life.

“I just want to suggest to you that, when you get to opiate addiction…they’re addicted,” said Nelson, who said his uncle Mike was a heroin addict and died at a young age.

“They take the heroin because they get physically ill if they don’t take it, and that’s the same with all these other opioids – oxycodone…down to Vicodin,” he added.

“It’s a ridiculous choice to get started – dangerous, life threatening. But once you’re on it, the reason they keep going back, is physical dependency. It has nothing to do with the fact that naloxone is available. There is no addict that goes and takes heroin because naloxone happens to be in the room.”

“My understanding is," Nelson added, "most of these young people that are addicted to heroin right now are addicted because they started on legal prescription meds – which are out of control – took them, ended up…getting hooked, you can’t get prescriptions – the street value of Oxycodone’s like $40 a pill – and you can get black tar heroin for $10 or $15 a dose. And it becomes an addiction matched with a financial incentive.”

“It happens probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of times every day right here in Orange County.”

“[Naloxone] is not a drug antidote that convinces people to start taking heroin. I mean that just – that doesn’t happen,” he added. “We’ve got to provide parents that feel helpless, with a remedy. And that is what this is all about.”